Factors in Origins of Our Health Emphasis
I. Counsel Suited to the Individual or Group
Adventist health emphasis originated at times in counsel to specific individuals or institutions to meet or correct certain conditions or errors in that time and place. At other times the. counsel was of a general nature with general application. These facts should be borne in mind in any study or application of Spirit of Prophecy counsel. Perhaps it has immediate application. Possibly it does not. Example—
1. Counsel to an early physician that he use raw eggs and grape juice to cure his condition (severe anemia brought on by his ill-advised restriction of his diet) does not infer a general recommendation of the use of eggs for everyone. Free use of eggs we now know may in some circumstances contribute to development of serious disease (cardiovascular disease in middle-aged or elderly people).
2. In volume 7 of Testimonies to the Church we have a discussion of the advantages of wooden structure over brick and stone for sanitariums. This might be difficult to understand except as we take into account the circumstances of the counsel. These circumstances were as follows:
a. She was speaking of small institutions.
b. She was speaking of these in a rural setting.
c. At that time there was no satisfactory ventilation system or controlled heating system.
d. The masonry buildings surviving from that time tell us why she did not regard them as satisfactory for patients as compared with the lighter, more dry and warm wooden structures.
We are not confused in our thinking on this subject today in the light of our all-masonry buildings, because we recognize the circumstances prevailing at that time.
II. Adventist Health Emphasis Given Because of Gross Ignorance of the Time
1. Our health counsel arose out of the ignorance of health matters on the part of everyone three quarters of a century ago. This ignorance resulted in high mortality from tuberculosis, pneumonia, and other respiratory diseases; typhoid fever and other enteric diseases; diphtheria, scarlet fever, smallpox, and other acute infectious diseases; and, perhaps most significant of all, malnutrition, often in the form of over-nutrition. On this general topic read Counsels on Health, pages 49 to 60.
2. There was at that time fear of night air, which led to poor ventilation. Danger of enteric diseases from water or milk was little suspected if the water or milk looked good. Rich heavy foods with plenty of grease and shortening were thought highly desirable. White bread was prized as superior. Advantages of fresh fruits and green vegetables were little suspected. Meat and potatoes were regarded as good staple foods for all. The important role of exercise, vigorous physical activity, in health had not been suggested.
3. Spirit of Prophecy counsel timely. It was to correct these gross misconceptions of the time that health reform came into the picture. Health reform did not come to serve as a shibboleth, or measuring rod of orthodoxy. It was not intended as a discipline, a code of taboos, or as a religious ritual.
III. Is Scientific and Sensible
1. Many of our health teachings regarded as faddist at the time are now hailed by the scientific world as sound and way ahead of their time. Particularly is this true in the field of nutrition.
"There is real common sense in health reform. People cannot all eat the same things. Some articles of food that are wholesome and palatable to one person, may be hurtful to another. Some cannot use milk, while others can subsist upon it. For some, dried beans and peas are wholesome, while others cannot digest them. Some stomachs have become so sensitive that they cannot make use of the coarser kind of graham flour. So it is impossible to make an unvarying rule by which to regulate everyone's dietetic habits."—Counsels on Health, pp. 154, 155.
2. Apply health reform with charity.
"We must go no faster than we can take those with us whose consciences and intellects are convinced of the truths we advocate. We must meet the people where they are. ... If we should allow the people as much time as we have required to come up to the present advanced state in reform, we would be very patient with them, and allow them to advance step by step, as we have done, until their feet are firmly established upon the health-reform platform. But we should be very cautious not to advance too fast, lest we be obliged to retrace our steps. In reforms, we would better come one step short of the mark than to go one step beyond it. And if there is error at all, let it be on the side next to the people."— Ibid., p. 438. (Italics supplied.)
IV. Breadth and Scope of Health Reform
Unfortunately, many confuse health reform with one limited phase of the question, vegetarianism. This is doubtless responsible for the unhappy attitude of some who thus dissociate themselves with the whole concept of health reform. An understanding of its broader significance would lead to wider acceptance in its various phases. Many do not realize how much of health reform they already practice as a matter of course. Health reform had concerned itself with a wide range of health subjects during the past hundred years. We here list the seven most important areas of health reform concern.
1. Alcohol.—Adventists have been prominent in the fight against alcoholic beverages from the very first of our history.
2. Tobacco.—Early Adventists, even ministers, used tobacco. (See The Story of Our Health Message, pp. 22, 23.)
However, at a very early date Adventists declared against the use of tobacco. Both alcohol and tobacco became tests for church fellowship.
3. Tea and Coffee.—It was at a later time that tea and coffee came to be recognized as detrimental to health, and a strong program of education against their use has been maintained. Opposition to the use of tea and coffee, though not a subject of church discipline, is one on which Adventists generally are quite united.
4. Drugs and Medicines.—a. Drugs of three quarters of a century ago listed arsenic, calomel, strychnine, quinine (used in appetizers or bitters), and many others whose effect was quite unknown, but which were in common use by the medical profession. Many people today are inclined to place a blanket condemnation over all medications, anything which comes from the drugstore, regardless of its value. It should be borne in mind that practically all the medications in use when the Spirit of Prophecy counsel was written have been discarded by the medical profession.
b. Rational medicine today seeks to learn the cause of the disease and suit the medication to the need. Thus we have insulin, which has saved the lives of millions of diabetics; liver extract for pernicious anemia cases; the sulfas and the antibiotics by which countless millions have been saved from the acute infections, including such killers as bubonic plague, typhoid fever, and now tuberculosis and leprosy. These are but a few examples of the remarkable new developments for the saving of life.
As mentioned above there are a few people who condemn the use of any drug or medicament.
c. The attitude of Seventh-day Adventists on this subject is set forth in the booklet entitled The Use of Drugs. This is available at your Book and Bible House.
5. Overwork.—Many of our early ministers literally overworked themselves into an early grave. This was a serious problem among our people at that time, and major emphasis was placed upon the need for moderation. (Read Counsels on Health, pp. 563, 564.)
6. Dress Reform.—A major health problem of a century ago was concerned with women's dress. The corset binding to attain the wasp-waist effect was highly injurious to circulation, digestion, and to actual organic structure. This was rightly condemned. The long-flowing dresses that swept the floors and streets, swirling up clouds of germ-laden dust were likewise brought under censure. Generally speaking, dress today by both men and women is sensible. Occasional fads such as the high heels at present are foibles which come and go. Dress reform is not an important issue today. References to this subject are so numerous that we do not select any specific one.
7. Diet.—a. Diet is perhaps one of the most significant areas of counsel mentioned in all of our health writings. Diet is a very comprehensive subject, so much so that physicians recognize that a major portion of all illness today is closely related to our eating habits. Unfortunately, many of our people, when thinking of Spirit of Prophecy counsel regarding diet, think only of the restrictions. Those who do so miss the true significance of our health emphasis. Health reform is built around the positive, the things we should do, not what we should not do.
b. "God calls upon those for whom Christ died to take proper care of themselves, and set a right example to others. My brother, you are not to make a test for the people of God, upon the question of diet; for they will lose confidence in teachings that are strained to the farthest point of extension. The Lord desires His people to be sound on every point in health reform, but we must not go to extremes."— Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 205.
c. "Investigate your habits of diet. Study from cause to effect, but do not bear false witness against health reform by ignorantly pursuing a course which militates against it. Do not neglect or abuse the body, and thus unfit it to render to God that service which is His due. To my certain knowledge some of the most useful workers in our cause have died through such neglect." —Counsels on Health, pp. 155, 156.
d. We list the following important matters relating to diet and health.
(1) Vegetarianism.—"We do not mark out any precise line to be followed in diet; but we do say that in countries where there are fruits, grains, and nuts in abundance, flesh food is not the right food for God's people. . . . We are not to make the use of flesh food a test of fellowship, but we should consider the influence that professed believers who use flesh foods have over others."—Ibid., p. 133. In the light of recent developments in the field of cardiovascular disease research, we are on solid scientific ground in our position on flesh food. World Health and the International Nutrition authorities are now accepting the concept that only through the better development of vegetarian food sources can the world be adequately fed.
(2) Excessive use of grease, fried foods.— Here again scientific research under-girds the counsel of the Spirit of Prophecy condemning the excessive use of grease. (See Counsels on Diet and Foods, pp. 255, 256.)
(3) Excessive use of rich pastries, cakes, pies, etc.—Now commonly recognized by physicians as a common cause of gastrointestinal disease. (See Counsels on Diet and Foods, pp. 87, 333.)
(4) Excessive use of sugar and milk combinations.—Note it is the excessive use that is condemned. This is a common cause of indigestion among people of a high standard of living. (See Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 113.)
(5) Overeating.—-The one dietetic indiscretion more severely condemned than any other. (Both by Spirit of Prophecy and scientific medicine.) It is sin to be intemperate in the quantity of food eaten, even if the quality is unobjectionable. Many feel that if they do not eat meat and the grosser articles of food they may eat of simple food until they cannot well eat more. This is a mistake. Many professed health reformers are nothing less than gluttons. Overeating has a worse effect upon the system than overworking (Counsels on Health, p. 50. Regarding exercise and diet see p. 572).
(6) Emphasize use of simple natural foods.—"Fruits, grains, and vegetables, prepared in a simple way, free from spice and grease of all kinds, make, with milk or cream, the most healthful diet. They impart nourishment to the body, and give a power of endurance and a vigor of intellect that are not produced by a stimulating diet."—Ibid., p. 115.
"Eat only plain, simple, wholesome food."—Ibid., p. 137.
(7) Emphasize fresh fruit, fresh vegetables, green salads (Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 200).
Adventists through their diet program at the Battle Creek Sanitarium are largely responsible for the popularizing of green leafy salads, for the prepared whole-grain breakfast cereals, and the introduction to the world of peanut butter, for better or for worse.
(8) Importance of regularity in eating habits.
(a) Irregular eating habits, eating between meals, and eating late at night, all contribute to indigestion and general ill health.
(b) Two meals a day is definitely desirable for elderly people or those of sedentary habits, provided the timing of the meals permits proper spacing, as for example, eight or nine o'clock in the morning and three or four o'clock in the afternoon. The practice of two meals a day, breakfast in the morning and dinner at noon, to fit today's business and school schedule, is not recommended for anyone, least of all for growing children.
It should be borne in mind that the body requires a certain minimum amount of nourishment. If this requirement is low, as in the case of elderly people or those engaged in sedentary labor, the stomach may be able to take this amount of food in two installments. For the active person the food requirement may well be of such quantity that if compressed into two meals, the result will be indigestion. The body can much better care for the same amount of food in three well-spaced meals. Having eaten with families on the two-meal-a-day plan, and having observed the quantity of food consumed, I am not in a position to recommend it for its temperance or for any health advantage. Those who have espoused the plan usually do so as a kind of religious discipline, quite distinct from any question of health. This accounts for the fanatic zeal with which the plan is carried out even in the face of acute suffering and possible health damage to the children involved.
(9) In summary.—"True temperance teaches us to dispense entirely with everything hurtful, and to use judiciously that which is healthful. There are few who realize as they should how much their habits of diet have to do with their health, their character, their usefulness in this world, and their eternal destiny."—Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 562. "The kingdom of God is not meat and drink" (Rom. 14:17). "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God" (1 Cor. 10:31).
V. Exercise, Recreation, Outdoor Activity
1. "More people die for want of exercise than through overfatigue; very many more rust out than wear out. Those who accustom themselves to proper exercise in the open air, will generally have a good and vigorous circulation. We are more dependent upon the air we breathe than upon the food we eat. . . . Whatever their business and inclinations, they should make up their minds to exercise in the open air as much as they can. They should feel it a religious duty to overcome the conditions of health which have kept them confined indoors, deprived of exercise in the open air."— Counsels on Health, p. 173.
2. The best medical authorities today declare that next after proper diet, regular vigorous exercise—preferably walking—is the most significant protection against heart attack or stroke.
VI. Need for Rest, Relaxation, and Change
1. "I was shown that Sabbathkeepers as a people labor too hard, without allowing themselves change or periods of rest. Recreation is needful to those who are engaged in physical labor, and is still more essential for those whose labor is principally mental."—Ibid., p. 195. Speaking of holidays, Mrs. White has advised, "Let several families living in a city or a village unite and leave the occupations which have taxed them physically and mentally, and make an excursion into the country, to the side of a fine lake or to a nice grove, where the scenery of nature is beautiful. They should provide themselves with plain, hygienic food, the very best fruits and grains, and spread their table under the shade of some tree, or under the canopy of heaven. The ride, the exercise, and the scenery, will quicken the appetite, and they can enjoy a repast which kings might envy. . . . Let the whole day be given to recreation. . . . All who can, should feel it a duty to pursue this course. Nothing will be lost, but much gained. They can return to their occupations with new life and new courage to engage in their labor with zeal, and they are better prepared to resist disease."—Ibid., pp. 195, 196.
2. Modern application.—Under the tension of today's high-pressure occupations and professions in a largely urbanized way of life, we need to study how we can adapt the principle of the above statement on recreation to our particular situation. Daily exercise, frequent diversion from the press of work, and a conscientious acceptance and appropriate use of vacations and holidays will do much to preserve our vigor and health.
VII. A Quiet and Peaceful Trust in God
"Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you" (1 Peter 5:7).